Monday, January 11, 2016

The Unavoidable Gun Cliché

From a gun made of words, to words full of guns!Image from 2Dolphins.com

It struck me, when reading comments regarding President Obama's executive orders on guns, first that we have a hair-trigger overreaction as a culture, whenever even a whisper of "gun control" is uttered. And, more superficially, that we have an inordinate number of gun-related clichés. To the point where it's almost impossible to read a comments section or editorial on the issue without recognizing unintentional double-entendres.

Off the top of my head I can think of:

Give it a shot

On target

Jumped the gun

With a bullet

Lock and load

Lock, stock and barrel

Bite the bullet

Pistol whipped

Missed its mark

Gun shy

Calling the shots

Get the lead out

Shooting blanks

Itchy trigger finger

Going great guns

Zero in

Going postal

Drop the hammer

The whole shooting match

Broad side of a barn

Under the gun

Quick draw

Loaded for bear

Riding shotgun

Set your sights on

Dodged a bullet

Trigger happy

Went off half-cocked

A shot in the dark

Pulled the trigger

Under the gun

I'm quite sure this is a very partial list. Because you find endless variations. Especially when writing colloquially, as most tend to do on blogs or comment sections. It may be as difficult to avoid as Biblical quotes and allusions are for an atheist! It really says something that we're so steeped in gun culture that we don't even notice that the language is shot clean through with them!